A story of four days to termination

Agency life is notoriously cutthroat. People are the primary assets of an agency. When something changes that affects the bottom line, people are the first cost to consider. People are expendable.

I witnessed one of the worst examples of this agency life trait with an experienced agency professional that was recruited and hired for a mid management position. This person accepted the position and declined two others being offered. An agreement was signed and the start date confirmed.

The new manager received a hero’s welcome by the entire agency. A large office was provided. Orientation was completed. Direct reports were assigned. Typical long, boring and highly billable meetings were scheduled and held. Then BOOM!

If you have ever been terminated, there is a real, physical, emotional reason they call it a firing. Like a bullet that travels faster than the speed of sound, you are hit with the unexpected. It takes your breath away and there is this reverberating sound of the question why?

In the case of the four days to termination, the answer was ‘last to hire, first to fire,’ a traditional, bullshit excuse from a spineless agency leader. This excuse is intended to suggest a client has left leaving the agency no choice but to fire people. No one in their right mind believes this, particularly after four days.

The truth is people are expendable in agency life.